The collection "L'Abbraccio," a collaboration between world renowned architect-artist-designer Gaetano Pesce and Michela Barona's furniture company Le Fablier, at the TriennaleDesign Museum, is a stunning exhibition of extraordinary, whimsical, and exciting new work ...... and it totally reinforces Pesce's design dominance!!! The furniture collection consists of tables, chairs, bookcase, sideboard, cupboard, and wardrobe. "Although it is off-the-shelf furniture, each piece is crafted so that it has unique features." Materials include polyexpoide, polyurethane resins, and hard foams .... elements familiar to Pesce's work, but there is an addition of wood, which is part of the Le Fablier world.

"L'Abbraccio is classic and contemporary styles coming together and celebrates today's fusion trend, with facts, events, thoughts, behavior and actions no longer expressions of "consistency", "monolithicity", "repetition", stiffness", :linearity", "standardization", "masculinity"; on the contrary they have all become signs of "multidisciplinarity", "coexistence", "elasticity", "unpredictability", "fluidity", "femininity" ....."

The individual pieces in this collection communicate "feelings of surprise, discovery,optimism, stimulation, sensuality, generosity, joy, and femininity." The exciting colors, materials, and textures ..... combined with humor and whimsey ....... and the energizing exuberance of the pieces, makes this one of the most exciting exhibitions in Milan!!!!!

These fabulous outdoor chairs. creating a magical garden at the Nhow Hotel on Via Tortona, are the "fantasy dreamland" of clothing designers Graziano Moro and Renato Pignatti!!! Setting up this "Wonderland" in the heart of Milan, the designers presented their "Queen of Love" chair and the "Little Prince of Love" pouf, made in recyclable plastic and available in 13 colors. The company, Design of Love began in 2009 with the chair, added the pouf in 2010, and last week the plastic jardiniere.

According to the designers ....... "The QUEEN OF LOVE is born from a simple idea, aiming to become a symbol of a positive and free way of being. It's the armchair of the good mood, that projects you into the future, remembering the past; a prism in which the light goes through and turns it into s rainbow of colours, becoming itself the energy that pervades the place. The strength generated by this moment is what really counts: it's the symbol of LOVE. The one and only QUEEN OF LOVE."

Architect Matteo Thun and Marni's Consuelo Castiglioni joined together to create "The Wooden Beacons," an installation in the courtyard of the Marnie boutique. The sculpture is part of the Interni Think TankInstallations, a collection of divine design installationsthat are found all around the city. This work, created in association with the American HardwoodExport Council, is about juxtaposition, it consists of the "hardware" elements of red wood planks interacting with the "software" elements of plastic bags filled with a variety of Marnie prints from the 2010 collection. The unusual juxtaposition of hard and soft, the eruption of the planks from the ground, and the variety of color and pattern is innovative, eye catching, and stunning. According to Thun, the piece is about life cycles and as he says ...... "There is nothing that grows old faster than the new."

They are stackable colanders from Rösle, I found them while I was shopping at the divine Milanese design store DePadova .......... a must stop for all design lovers!!!!!

Think stainless steel with rubber sides that can be pushed down ....... not a great description but, think of those paper chinese lanterns that flatten or an accordian!!!! Anyway, they stack within each other and are great design ......... or, maybe I have just been in Milan toooooo long!!!!